The Capilano Review is pleased to invite submissions to our Spring 2026 Writing Contest, “And what would you say if you could?,” guest-judged by Bhanu Kapil. Submissions are open from April 1-30, 2026.
And what would you say if you could? When I was invited to select the theme for this contest, this was the phrase that immediately filled my mind. I’ve carried this question for a long time, answering it in my own way, and I’m so curious to know what your response might be.
I welcome writing (poetry, hybrid works) that responds to this question, that lives this question as an aspect of content or form. How does this other kind of language appear on the page, scored for the attempt to do so? Is the poem that place, or is another kind of writing necessary now? Also, how will you navigate questions of vulnerability and exposure that might accompany this writing that is also a speaking up/out/with/to? Can you place something in your writing that protects it even as it’s being written?
—Bhanu Kapil
Kapil will be reading from a longlist of submissions selected by The Capilano Review’s editors. The winner will receive a $500 cash prize and publication in an upcoming print issue of The Capilano Review.
About the Judge
Bhanu Kapil is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature. She is the author of a number of full-length collections, including How To Wash A Heart (Liverpool University Press) and new editions of Incubation: a space for monsters (Prototype/Kelsey Street Press). The recipient of the TS Eliot Prize, a Windham-Campbell Prize, the 16th International Poetry and People Prize, a Cholmondeley Award, and the Judith E. Wilson Poetry Fellowship (Faculty of English, University of Cambridge), Kapil is now an Extraordinary Fellow of Churchill College. For the last six years, she has been collaborating with Blue Pieta, a choreographer, dramaturg, and performer. A performance score, written with Blue Pieta, is forthcoming in The Glass Mosque (Minerva Projects), a collection that engages the work of artist Shahzia Sikander. Kapil has performed at ICA London, Tate Modern, Serpentine Galleries, Horse Hospital, and The Place. Currently, in the Archives Center of Churchill College, she is writing Novel on Yellow Paper, by hand.
Submission Guidelines
- Submission period: April 1–30, 2026
- Submit your work via Submittable
- Work must be original and previously unpublished
- Submit up to 6 pages of poetry, prose, or other short experimental forms (PDF or Word formats only)
- All entries will be considered anonymously. Please do not include your name or other identifying fields on your manuscript pages
- International entries are accepted
- Simultaneous submissions are accepted, but please notify us immediately if your work is accepted for publication elsewhere so that we can remove your entry from the contest
- Works written by or using AI will not be considered
Submission Fees
$25 submission fee for all entries.
All submission fees include a complimentary one-year digital subscription to The Capilano Review.
The submission fee is waived for Indigenous entrants and anyone for whom the fee poses a barrier. Please email contact@thecapilanoreview.com directly for alternate instructions to submit your work.
Ready to submit?
Upload your work via Submittable here.
The winner will be announced in July 2026.
